Afghan air raids kill 45

Afghan government forces killed 45 people, including civilians, in airstrikes against Taliban fighters in a western province bordering Iran on Wednesday, drawing condemnation from the US envoy trying to start peace talks involving all sides.

Ali Ahmad Faqir Yar, the governor of Adraskan district in Herat province counted at least eight civilians among the dead as he gave the death toll, but it was unclear if all of the other casualties were Taliban.

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"Forty-five people had been killed so far in airstrikes by security forces in the Kham Ziarat area, Taliban were among those killed," he said. Other local government officials in the province gave the same death toll.